A checklist can be very broad, providing only limited information on an item. It can also hinder performance for critical situations. People become dependent on checklists that they forget to use their common sense.

Your job desperately needs to be structured with a checklist, but if your first checklist doesn`t survive, don`t despair. Just like best laid plans, checklists—at least first drafts—will often go awry in the real world. Even aviation and surgical checklists are constantly being modified to be easier to use, clearer, and more useful in real-world situations.